The Sweet Spot
The Sweet Spot – by Corliss Buenavida
During today's Beer Float, which comes after my daily swim (yeah right), I was reminded of a day three years ago that was pretty much one of those perfect afternoons where you realize it has all come together the way you envisioned it many years earlier.
To understand how this ideal float afternoon came to be you first need some background as to how I planned ahead to create what I refer to as The Sweet Spot.
The Villa was built in 2016 on a property purchased in 2006 in San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua. Designed to my specifications, a prominent feature is a large swimming pool with a big sun deck, two shaded seating areas all surrounded by lush gardens and of course a sound system with true stereo speaker separation. This is my winter escape!
On this particular day I achieved a goal, which I had set for myself when I first arrived for the season in late October, that being to swim enough laps of the pool to add up to 1 kilometer. Now, 1000 meters probably doesn’t sound like much to somebody who does a lot of swimming but for me, a 60-something beer swilling man who isn’t actually that fond of swimming for swimming’s sake, 1 kilometer was a lofty goal. The pool is 9 meters long so with some basic math figured out, that morning I swam 111 laps (and a wee bit more). Hooray me! Of course I didn’t just get up this one day and swim all those laps. I started a couple of months earlier with 20 laps and added 2 each day – training – duh. I would give myself penalties for days missed by subtracting 2 but over time I worked my way up to a point where it no longer felt difficult. My technique was solid, good breathing etcetera, so when I was up to about 50 laps I started to add 5 at a time.
But wait there’s more! When I reached that 1km goal I also started practicing a celebration float, in the form of a beer consumed while drifting around the pool in a flotation device which has now lead to what has become beerfloat.calm
However, The Sweet Spot is more than a typical drift. It is that perfect stationary flotation spot that positions me with my feet up on the edge of the pool midway between my stereo’s exterior speakers blasting a great playlist or a specific album I want to hear, and as I recall on that day I wanted to listen to Led Zeppelin’s Houses of the Holy album, so I did!
I loaded my tracks to play plus a bonus starter cut to cover the time it would take me to get the rest of my shit together, because as you may recall the first rule of beerfloat.calm is Looking Out For #1, so of course I went to the bathroom first.
Next, I grabbed a Toña from the beer fridge, wiping off the top, because you never know where the dang things were stored before you get them and I have been sick from not cleaning in the past, then loaded it in my TID (Thermal Insulation Device) and snatched a big comfy float from the stack.
Once at the pool, it was a simple backward plunk & push launch from the steps with a 180 degree rotation so when I reached the far side of the pool feet first I just had to make another simple 180 degree push turn to end up in my desired location. I will get into mounting, dismounting and movement techniques in another post but these are very basic moves you will master within a few practice floats and hopefully without spilling a drop. (These actual pushes were more like 170 degree rotations.)
In position, I crack the tin, take a joyful swig and settle back to listen to my tunes in comfortable repose. I have my standard issue hat and sunglasses on but close my eyes never-the-less to let my aural senses take it all in.
With ideal timing, Jimmy Page’s guitar lead from The Song Remains The Same bursts out at me and I know I am in The Sweet Spot!
Your Sweet Spot can be wherever you feel is best, doing whatever you feel most comfortable doing. You may have an infinity pool in which your Sweet Spot is all about the view. When I look at the north view from my pool, my gazebo frames a great scene of the hills and trees to the north. From the hammock in that gazebo I often think the framing would be perfect for another calming tv channel, Hammock TV, similar to the Fireplace and Aquarium channels.
I even have a third Sweet Spot in the same pool. On the deepest days of winter when the sun is at it's furthest point south, the hill to the west of the Villa creates shade on the pool by mid afternoon, so if I am late getting in the water (heaven forbid) and only have a half hour left of bright sunshine, I will park the back end of my float on my top step of the pool to stay anchored in place and face the sun to catch some final rays.
On a lake or in the ocean a Sweet Spot is often a fabulous natural vista. Rivers don't work quite as well because of the currents but if you have some relatively slow moving water and a rock or dock you can rest your feet upon you should be good to go.
If nature isn't your thing then, like an aquaintance of mine, the Sweet Spot might be plunked in front of a big outdoor tv screen watching his favourite team in action or having movie night with the image projected upon a big poolside wall or screen.
Yet another option may be just drifting around with your eyes closed letting your imagination take you to a different Sweet Spot with every float.
Get on board, chillax and find your enchanting environs,
Corliss
beer float.calm = beerfloat.net not beerfloat.com
